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<title>The stars in your eyes shined brighter by judyannhale</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28155627">The stars in your eyes shined brighter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/judyannhale/pseuds/judyannhale'>judyannhale</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dead To Me (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Fluff, Prom Night, dorothea au? if you squint, teen jen and judy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:40:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,327</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28155627</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/judyannhale/pseuds/judyannhale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jen sighed. She gave in too easily, maybe because she had that nagging feeling that they wouldn’t be able to do any of this in a year’s time, or maybe because that song reminded her of something that already felt half-gone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Judy Hale/Jen Harding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The stars in your eyes shined brighter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hellooooo I haven't written jen/judy stuff in a While but apparently new taylor swift albums just make me think of them so here's a little something I thought of last night. Hope y'all enjoy :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jen kicked off her heels and put her feet up on the cold wooden pew, fumbling in her little black clutch for the pack of cigarettes and lighter she’d stashed in there earlier. The church her parents still tried to drag her to every week was all boxy and stuffy. She liked this one better. It somehow felt like it had more of a history, even if that history was just a decade of performing in school Christmas shows. The air was cooler here at night, almost serene, with moonlight just grazing the stained glass windows.</p><p>The sound of the back door closing echoed through the empty building. She sat up, rushing to put her cigarette down as if the scent of it wouldn’t give her away immediately, but when she turned around, she realized she didn’t need to. It wasn’t her mom coming to look for her, thank god. It was just Judy, peeking out cautiously from behind her thick bangs. The rest of her hair was a beautiful mess in a slightly tousled up-do. </p><p>“What are you doing here?” Jen hissed, still tense after being startled.</p><p>Judy walked over to join her as nonchalantly as she could in heels that were a size too big. Jen tucked in her legs so she could sit down, then stretched them back out and rested her bare feet in Judy’s lap. She lifted her cigarette again. Good thing she hadn’t been scared enough to put it out.</p><p>“What are <em> you </em>doing here?” Judy asked.</p><p>“Pissing off my mom.” Jen exhaled. Cigarette smoke mingled with the residual scent of incense and rich candles until the air felt brittle.</p><p>“Won’t she get mad if she sees you’re gone?”</p><p>“Maybe.” Jen shrugged. She’d become wonderfully indifferent towards her parents’ opinions of her since she’d turned eighteen - even more so after her acceptance letter came and she knew it would only be a matter of months before she could leave this town behind her and start actually doing <em> something </em> with her life.</p><p>“Anyway, I thought you were all excited for prom?” she said. Judy had been talking about it on and off for months. She'd decided prom was one of those magical things - like Christmases in a big family or sleepovers with lots of friends - except this time there was no reason it couldn’t be just as magical for her as it was for everyone else. Maybe she believed too much in the movies she watched.</p><p>Neither of them had thought much about dates, but when one of the less significant members of the football team had asked her, Jen had said it was a pity she and Judy had already decided to go as friends. She’d seen Judy’s face light up out of the corner of her eye and knew there was no turning back. Then she’d let Judy drag her around every thrift store in town until they found the perfect outfits - a long black dress with spaghetti straps for Jen (about as far as she could get from her mother’s dream of a puffy pageant monstrosity), and a vintage lilac gown for Judy with lace trims and a long flowing skirt. </p><p>Jen couldn’t deny all that effort had paid off. Judy had walked into that gym looking like some kind of hippie angel. The silver heels had been an afterthought - the closest thing they had to her size after Jen flat-out refused to go to any more stores.</p><p>Judy tilted her head to the side a little. “You can’t spend prom night on your own.”</p><p>“I can.”</p><p>She grinned, reaching over to pluck the cigarette from Jen’s hand. “Not if I have anything to do with it.”</p><p>Jen raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure Judy had ever so much as tried a cigarette before, but Judy held it in her fingers as if she knew what to do with it and inhaled cautiously. It stung at her throat a little, making her eyes water, but she managed to avoid coughing.</p><p>Jen leaned her head back and gazed up at the high arching ceiling. “Isn’t it crazy how school is just… over?”</p><p>Judy turned to look at her. “I guess,” she agreed.</p><p>“I mean, our whole lives, every year we’ve known for certain - next year we’ll be back at the same school, with the same people. And now we can just do whatever we want.” She wasn’t saying anything she didn’t know already, but there was something about that night, with the soft sound of their old classmates partying on the other side of the parking lot, that made it so astounding. “Look, do you have any idea what you’ll be doing this time next year?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Jen sighed. “Well, I don’t.”</p><p>“Yeah, you do,” said Judy. “You’ll be living in New York and dancing every day and having a great time.”</p><p>“But I don’t <em> really </em> know,” </p><p>Judy didn’t get it. But what could she expect from someone who’d be staying in this town next year by choice? Judy would be doing what she loved, too - taking as many art classes as she could - only she’d be doing it from the safety of their local community college. </p><p>“I don’t know what it’ll be like to live in New York, or study dance full-time. Or who I’ll even be friends with.”</p><p>Judy was struck with a sudden pang of relief that she wouldn’t have to deal with any of that newness. She rested a hand on Jen’s ankle.</p><p>Jen pointed her toes for a moment out of habit, and just for a second Judy caught a glimpse of the cheerleader she’d spent half of freshman year watching from the bleachers. That was before Jen quit everything else to focus on dance (not <em> just </em> because she loathed cheerleading with a passion), before Judy became her only real friend at that school, before she ever dreamed of wearing black to not go to prom or ditching her hometown for New York. Maybe Jen was right. Maybe everything would be different now.</p><p>“You better not forget me when you’re a big fancy Broadway star.” </p><p>“Dancers don’t become fancy Broadway stars.” Jen rolled her eyes again, but she said it with a smile. </p><p>“Then you can be the first.”</p><p>“Yeah, right.” Jen reached over to pluck her cigarette back from Judy’s hand.</p><p>“How much of that d’you need to smoke to get high?” Judy giggled.</p><p>Jen snorted. "You don't get high from cigarettes." She could hear muffled songs filtering through the old stone walls. They’d moved onto a slower song now - a sad one the two of them used to listen to all the time. “Aren’t you missing out on your big dance?” </p><p>“I don’t have to be.” Suddenly Judy stood up, the idea bright in her eyes.</p><p>Jen shook her head. “I dance too much already.”</p><p>“Come on, you love this song.” Judy reached out her arm and waved her fingers open and closed to ask for Jen’s hand.</p><p>Jen sighed. She gave in too easily, maybe because she had that nagging feeling that they wouldn’t be able to do any of this in a year’s time, or maybe because that song reminded her of something that already felt half-gone. Judy’s hands wrapped around her waist, and Jen fiddled with the tassels on her dress as she listened to Judy softly humming along to the melody.</p><p>She grinned. It was the perfect mockery of all those kids in the gym - the ones who’d peaked in high school and already thought they’d found <em> true fucking love </em>. They didn’t have a clue. </p><p>Jen had a whole world stretched out in front of her. Soon this town wouldn’t be real, just a figment of her memory to visit every now and then. But when she leaned into Judy’s slight frame and swayed from side to side, watching as moonlight flickered in and out of those golden brown eyes - who knows - maybe there was something real there, too.</p>
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